The Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet was originally designed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to treat autism, dyspraxia, ADD, dyslexia, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia and other psychological disorders. Because GAPS heals and seals the gut, it has found a following amongst those with celiac, Hashimoto's and other autoimmune disorders. Recent research indicates T2 diabetes may be an autoimmune disorder, thus my experiment of n=1 to see if GAPS improves my health after 25 years as a T2.
|
| Pico de gallo by nonelvis, on Flickr |
I was on the phone with my daughter recently and promised to get this recipe to her.
Using guacamole as a sandwich topping has been one of the most useful ways for me to get a bunch of veggies in my husband nearly daily.
I make pico de gallo once a week, then daily mix up some fresh guacamole to put in his lunch.
|
| RANT, this way by Nesster, on Flickr |
So if you don't want to hear a long drawn-out rant about how freaking stupid doctors are, do not click to continue reading.
My cardiologist isn't an idiot, and I have an appointment to see him in October, so I will likely not be completely upset after that.
But generally...
|
| 2006-04-12-19-04-41zoomed by WmJR, on Flickr |
Like most of you, given the high price of pastured meats, we tend to eat a lot of cheap cuts around here. Still, once in a blue moon, I splurge and get a good steak, especially if I run across a sale. To me, a really good steak is a strip steak, a club steak, a delmonico, a ribeye, a T-bone or a filet mignon. I buy one when we're relatively flush and stick it in the freezer. Then when Steve is tired or had a particularly bad day, I can spoil him a little. And spoil me too!
Having spent more than we can afford, I'm
|
| Coffee with Cream and Sugar by TheCulinaryGeek, on Flickr |
Coffee is legal on the full GAPS diet, as long as it's brewed and not instant. Who would drink instant coffee voluntarily anyways? My grandmother, that's who. And she's dead. Which means she doesn't drink much instant anymore...
Coffee is not legal on any of the introductory stages, so there shall be caffeine withdrawal occurring. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. It's worse than PMS.
But even on full GAPS, neither my beloved cream nor my stevia powder are legal. The only allowed dairy is fermented, and I somehow don't see putting sour cream or yogurt in my coffee. I guess I will have to switch to coconut milk or cream as I can't drink it black.
And stevia is only legal if it's the green leaf herb form, not the refined powder, which is what I use. Luckily, I have some growing in my garden this year and have been drying it up as I go along.
|
| Eggplant Parmesan by joebeone, on Flickr |
While hubby isn't fond of eggplant, this is one of my favorite vegetables. And this is quite a yummy way to prepare it!
This is not GAPS legal as mozzarella is not an accepted cheese. Thus this is classified as TF, for pre or post GAPS.
|
Have you seen this yet?
Amanda got 12 days of real broth, broth that actually gels, from the same set of bones.
|
| rain, dirt road, mud pies by paloetic, on Flickr |
No, not the chocolatey confection, but the ones you made sitting in a pile of mud when you were a three-year-old.
I've noticed that advertising soil bacteria on your probiotics is becoming more and more popular.
It occurred to me that this was a rather stupid thing to buy cause I have dirt in my yard; presumably with soil bacteria in it. I've been composting the heck out of my garden for years and it's full of worms and other slimy things, so I imagine bacteria are happy out there too.
OK, so I wasn't really planning on sitting out there with a spoon and digging into the dirt. I mean, there's WORMS in that dirt after all!
But it occurred to me... healthy microflora has several hundred species of bacteria and most of your probiotics only have a handful. Maybe this is why homemade ferments, like sauerkraut, are so much more health-giving than fermented products from the grocery, sterilized and then inoculated with only a few bacteria.
And then it occurred to me, maybe I should just not wash my vegetables. I mean, they grow in perfectly healthy compost. I've made the jokes in comments in several blogs recently; that we ought to consider eating dirt.
And yesterday, I discovered Dr. Ayers' blog (Cooling Inflammation, linked in the sidebar) and saw that in several posts, he recommended eating unwashed vegetables. So I'm not the only one with this peculiar notion!
Of course, they need to be organic, you don't want to eat pesticide and herbicide coated vegetables without washing them. The veggies in my garden qualify, and I've always eaten them out there without washing, though I usually wash them when I bring them inside.
But maybe I'll stop. Seems cheaper than buying dirt pills.
|
| Yogurt by Mom the Barbarian, on Flickr |
The whey from yogurt is a stage 1 food; yogurt itself is a Full Gaps food.
The big difference in making GAPS-style yogurt is that it needs to be cultured for 24 hours to be sure all the lactose is broken down. I expect this also increases the probiotics quite a bit also. And I'd expect the yogurt to be more tart.
My "normal" crockpot method doesn't work anymore because the milk doesn't stay warm enough long enough.
|
When you follow a lot of GAPS, TF and Paleo/Primal blogs, it's hard to narrow posts down to just a few of the best.
